It’s gotta warm up someday, right?

I don’t think it got below freezing last night, but it was cold, clear, and calm enough for convective cooling to leave a coating of frost most everywhere. Happily, the mostly clear skies continued past sunrise for a couple of hours before the clouds rolled back in.

I didn’t see the blue heron today, but I found the pair of black-crowned night herons in the same tree as yesterday.

At the pond, beside the pair of geese, a pair of wood ducks, and a quartet of mallards, we had a red-breasted merganser drake trying his luck at snagging a goldfish.

At the river, I had the rare treat of catching a bufflehead, the drake this time, out of the water for a moment.

I almost didn’t notice this mallard hen making like a wood duck and taking a nice long break from the water.

There are still plenty of golden-crowned kinglets around, and here’s one down on the grass with a smidgeon of snow left over from last evening.

On my way back south, I was lucky enough to finally catch in range one of the belted kingfishers I keep hearing.

Meanwhile, closer to the water, an eastern phoebe was hunting smaller prey.

Finally, the night-herons were still in their perches as I went by again, so here’s one more glimpse, just in case they’ve moved on by tomorrow.

Lastly, I forgot to mention that a crew was delivering beer at the beer garden yesterday morning, so they ought to be opening soon. Also, the dark-eyed juncos and brown creepers were noticeably absent this morning. I doubt they are all gone yet, but perhaps they are starting to make their way north.

All signs that, despite the snow and frost, warmer weather can’t be too far away. Yay!